1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and more particularly to increasing the data output rate of a processor.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Many techniques exist in digital communications systems in which a central processor performs operations on digital data received from peripheral equipment at varying data rates. Various techniques for more effectively utilizing available memory capacity are known to the prior art. In certain applications, however, a peripheral device may require that data be supplied to it for a short period of time at a rate faster than is possible utilizing the data bus which interconnects the processor and memory. One technique for increasing the data output rate, by time-multiplexing the output address and the data lines of a data processor to increase the data word length decoded therefrom, is described in the copending patent application "System and Method for Increasing the Output Data Throughput of a Computer", Ser. No. 753,398, filed Dec. 22, 1976, assigned to the present assignee. However, the technique described in the latter application requires that the processor be dedicated, or uninterruptable, during the outputting of a data block or string to the peripheral device. The requirement that the processor be temporarily dedicated necessitates the use of additional hardware to ensure that none of the other peripherals or memory in the system respond to data being transferred to the addressed peripheral via the address bus and also additional hardware and/or software to ensure that the processor does not respond to any interrupts during the dedicated period.